Rising to the Challenge: Success Stories and Strategies for Achieving Climate Adaptation and Resilience

Source
World Bank
Climate Objective
Adaptation
Planning and Implementation Activity
Developing and Implementing Policies and Measures
Financing Implementation
Sectors and Themes
Disaster Risk Reduction
Infrastructure and Industry
Language
English
Region
East Asia and Pacific
Europe and Central Asia
Latin America and the Caribbean
Middle East and North Africa
North America
South Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa
Country Grouping
Small Island Developing States (SIDS)
Least Developed Countries (LDCs)
Barriers Overcome
Capacity
Economic
Technological
Case Summary

About 1.2 billion people are at high risk from climate-related hazards, but much can be done to make people, business, communities, and countries more resilient. The new World Bank flagship report “Rising to the Challenge” argues that reducing climate and disaster impacts requires a combination of more rapid development, more resilient development, and targeted adaptation interventions. Development plays a key role as nobody can be resilient without access to basic infrastructure and social services, decent housing, or while living in poverty. While a 10-percent increase in income is associated with a decrease in the population at high risk by close to 100 million people, current development patterns will not be enough. An assessment of 44 countries shows that, in spite of growing attention and adaptation planning, most countries are still lagging in implementing resilience interventions, especially those related to policies and macro-fiscal dimensions, and in the monitoring and evaluation of their actions. However, the report dispels the idea that no progress is being done. With a collection of 30 examples from the private sector and 9 public-sector reforms or interventions, including public-private partnerships, it shows that promising adaptation and resilience efforts are undertaken globally and have measurable results. These initiatives and good practices can be replicated to scale up action and to build resilience for all.

Further Information

Case study author(s)

The preparation of this report was led by Jia Li, Esther Naikal, and Thomas Kerr under the overall guidance of Stéphane Hallegatte. The core team comprises Jia Jun Lee, Francisna Fernando, Chloé Desjonqueres, Nisan Gorgulu, Camilla Knudsen, Penny Mealy, Ammara Shariq, and Jichong Wu.

The case studies were prepared by teams from the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), including: Paolo Avner, Anam Basnet, Sarah CollBlack, Jana el-Horr, Habiba Gitay, Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, Bramka Jafino, Melanie Kappes, Camilla Knudsen, Jia Jun Lee, Nancy Lozano Gracia, Olivier Mahul, Sean Michaels, Tevi Obed, Ashley Pople, Anja Robakowski, Evelyn Sanchez Hernandez, Jun Rentschler, Varun Shankar, Tatiana Skalon, Vladimir Stenek, and Sara Turner. David Carlin of UNEP FI, Anne Chataigne and Mahesh Roy of IIGCC, Lori Collins of GARI Group, Marie Diron and Swami Venkataraman of Moody’s Ratings, Caitlin Drake and Felicity Spoors of Gold Standard, Irene Heemskirk of the European Central Bank, Jane Jamieson of PPIAF, Alexander Kennedy of Standard Chartered Bank, Ariane Pevide and and Michael Keane of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Ujala Qadir of Climate Bonds Initiative, and Nicola Ranger of the University of Oxford contributed input and review of private sector and related case studies. Neven Fučkar of the University of Oxford provided input on climate risk and vulnerability contexts. The country adaptation and resilience readiness assessments were prepared by many colleagues across the World Bank Group, some as part of the Country Climate and Development Report process. The team is grateful for support and methodological and data input from Julie Rozenberg, Thomas Farole, Stavros Papageorgiou, Ellysar Baroudy, Ahmed Al Qabany, Craig Meisner, David Groves, Giovanni Ruta, Kai Kaiser, Elena Golub, Paola Agostini, Juan Jose Miranda Montero, Tao Wang, Katherine Stapleton, Andrea Liverani, Julian Lee, Sophie de Vries Robbé, Natalie Weigum, Serge Mandiefe Piabuo, Melanie Kappes, Ashley Pople, Yurani Arias Granada, Diji Chandrasekharan Behr, Raffaello Cervigni, Rangeet Ghosh, Wanli Fang, Philippe Ambrosi, Jun Rentschler, Phearanich Hing, and Zoran Kapor.

Contact
The World Bank Group
Year Published
2024